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As a local resident arrived home on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a dense smoke column. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were destroyed, and the adjacent bushland was transformed into charred remnants.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a long-serving firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This signals a “foreboding start” to the wildfire period.

A total of four homes have been destroyed in the broader Bulahdelah area, including two on Emu Creek Road, where Morgan lives, one on the Pacific Highway and one south of the township.

“No words can express it,” he said. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for tourists journeying up the mid-north coast to coastal destinations such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was blanketed in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops circled above, aiding ground crews who were attempting to quash a fire that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles reduced speed for traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had ravaged the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a watch and act level on Monday evening.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as another ordinary day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and scent of burning lingering in the air.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, transforming it into a hub for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, supplies of water were being offloaded from trucks and sweets were being packed into zip lock bags. One firefighter noted that they needed a water bottle every 20 minutes when on the active fire ground.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Plumes of smoke were still rising from spots of embers on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street that follows a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a boundary post outside a burnt property, a scorched stuffed toy remained attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the sole remnant of how the area once appeared. Against the odds, his property was saved, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a blaze will arrive”. His timing was precise.

“We sprayed the house and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I said to myself, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and managed to save it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring inferno”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land in such a dry state.

“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “Fires of this magnitude are unprecedented. But you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

On the same street, Jeff Curley was looking after his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, other than a broken headlight on a car and a barrel of firewood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.

“I am very familiar with this area,” he said. “Previously a fire almost reached a local ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. The fire approached from all directions, and the firies essentially protected it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new for Curley, who came close to losing his home in Wattle Grove when fires swept through in 2019.

“You see people on the news say, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “It seems distant, and all of a sudden it's upon you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “right up and down the coast” to help with the containment effort and had done an “outstanding job” saving properties from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “worked as one” after the tragic loss of one of their own.

“The firefighting community is a close-knit group,” she said. “However, the danger is not over.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway closing and reopening a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It remains uncontained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would focus on the tiny township of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and have a fire plan.

“Little fires are popping up from storm activity a few days ago,” she said.

“Tomorrow’s weather is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind swirls in the area.”